Press for forming pellets



A. P. BERNARD PRESS FOR FORMING PELLETS Filed May 23, 1950 Patented Feb. 23, 1954 UNIT ED S-TAIE S Q PRES-S FOR FORMING PELLETS Adam P: Bernard,; Rochester; Ne ApplieatiorrMay:23, 1950', Serial N6. 1633740 Claims 1.

Air' guns and air pistols" are in common use. They-*shoot a' projectile with compressed or gas of=othensorts under pressure. Such guns or =pi stols use-round shots or pellets of various designs; Such s-hots' or pellets are usually -made oi l'ead 'onlead composition;

The =obj eat of" this-dnvention is to provide a punohlpressthat will punch lead pellets trom a strip of sheetlead: and do it' accurately and rapid- 1y: and: economically.

Anotherrobiect ofthe invention is to provide aispunch press that -w-ill form: a pellet'zthat has a heavy "head and. 5a. light weight. hollow tailg: the tairbein scylindrical onthe outside and tapered onxthe' insider Another objecti of the invention; is to 1 provide:- a i press that. form a. well. balanced .p'e'll'et that he made: to. spin: omitsrlongaxis when shot from an air gunwitha rifledba-rrelx:

Another object: 1 of the invention :is to provide a'spunch; presstin: which: thepun'clr is: moved up ward orr aslant; through guides,

Another ohj eat of? the inventi'onsi'sartox provide a.punch press that has parallel: guide: plates suit? ablyspacedi apart withaiholeithroughltheeplates at right angles thereto through whiclrtheipunnh camsoperateszonctheestrip of lead that is fed between the plates.

Another 1 obj ect= ot the invention is -t'o provide a press in-whiohathe punch will eject: the pellet formecLthereby from the outermost plate which is.-placed on an incline so'"that...the pellet can roll therefrom by gravity:

Another objector the invention is to operate the. punchby'a lever'mounted on a pivot'which i'sisplace'd' in the frame of thetipress below. the guideiplates; and'below the lead .platenon :which the: punch is'to" operate sothat .a downward movementon the end of the. lever or handle. will cause the. punchto operate" upward through; the guide. platesandthrough'the lead; plate.

These and other'obj'ects' of the invention. will be "illustrated in the drawings; described inthe specification andlpointedtout-ii'mthe claim at the endathereof.

Fig. l is a side elevation otsa-toench and the:

press mounted thereon, the plate on one side of the press being partly broken away to show the parts between the plates.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the press shown in Fig. 1, the press being tilted so that the long upper straight edge of the top of the press is shown horizontal'instead of being shown at an inclination of 45 from the horizontal.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the press when viewed from the right hand end of Fig. 2.

plateis a flange turned"at right angles Fi 4 is an enlarged' v-iew of the strip or "lead showing enlarged round-' holes therein: which would he formed" in: the-"strip punching the pellets 'therefrom.

5 is an enlarged sectional view-of al pontion ofFi'ig. lshowingthe punch in the position, which it takes when it forcesthe pellet=out--*o! the lead strip;

Fig. 6 isan enlarged sectional vi'ew of "a portiorr of the top plate*of "thepress with the dle shown in full line positionanddotted line-poisition in theplate;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged sectional view-'oi 'the pelletafterit 'has been formed and ejected fr'om the press.

In: the" drawings like reierence numerals indicate likepa-rts.

In the drawing-5* reference" numeral l I iit-i dicates a horizontal benchorr which the 'press is mounted. The press oomprises" two side Zand '3 which are parallel-to each other and are space d apart by- 'the'blo'ck J 4 form'ed o'f laminated plates suitably-held together andjoin'ed to the parallel plat-es Wand 3-5 At the bottom of? each herefrom'; the flan-ge' E f-orming part'of the plated and the flange- 6 forming-part orthe -plate These fiangesrest on the -hench I Each o these flanges has a hole I-- and W ther-ein-through slant edgewise to-one side from theflanges' 5 and Wand from the-- table -orhenc'h onwhich the flanges rest. This slant i'sby' aconsiderable angle, preferably an angleof about 45 The block 4- and-thepla'te lt'rare parallTtd each-*otlfer and are fastened between "the upright parallel plates-2 and-Wan'd-Space the plates-Wand -3-'apa-rt and hold the plates together." Thames-mm the plate lt and plates 2 "and"'*3- encl'ose*=a= rectangular guide-space betweenthem, whiclrguide space is inclined downwardly"totheright by "an angle-of about sh ps appears in'Flg: 1". This is for a-purpose that 'will presentlv he-descrihed.

Mounted on the pivot II is a lever or handle 12 which lever can be moved up and down. A bolt I3 is provided which limits the downward movement of the short end of the lever and prevents the punch 20 from getting out of engagement with the hole In in the block 4. Suitably spaced apart from the block 4 is the plate l5.

block and the plate, preferably from above from the left side as shown in Fig. 1, although it can be fed from below on the right if desired.

The hole I4 in the block 4 and the hole 15a in the plate l5 act as guides for the punch.

The strip of lead that is fed through the press is a little wider than is needed for the formation of the pellets, but need not be as wide as the space between the plates 2 and 3. For the purpose of limiting the space between the plates, I provide a block 17 for taking up part of the space, leaving a guide space [8 that is somewhat wider than the strip of lead that is to be fed through it. The strip of lead that is fed through this space [8 will preferably have two parallel edges, one of which is held against the block ll. As the pellets are punched out, the strip of lead is distorted and is made somewhat wider and the space l8 must be wide enough to give suitable clearance so that it will not become jammed as it is fed through the press.

The punch comprises the stem 29, the upper end 22 of which is shaped to form the inside of the pellet 2| shown in Fig. 7. The process of forming the pellets is illustrated in Fig. 5. This stem 20 has a block 23 on the lower end of it. The block has an elongated eye therein in which loosely engages the reduced end l2a of the lever l2; so that as the long end of the lever I2 is pushed down at the right in Fig. 1 the left hand end of the lever and the punch is moved u ward to punch and form the pellet.

With the strip of lead It in position between the block 4 and the plate 15, the right hand end of the lever I2 is pushed down and this pushes the punch 22 up. The punch presses or cuts a disc of lead out of the strip and pushes it through the opening [5a in the plate l5 and in so doing forms a pellet with a thick rounded head and a tapered cu shaped tail that is more or less cylindrical on the outside and tapered on the inside as shown in Fig. 7. As the punch goes through the plate I5 with the pellet it stretches the lead to form the tail of the pellet and pushes the pellet beyond the plate. When the punch is withdrawn, the pellet drops off of the punch or the inclined plate 15 strips it from the punch and the pellet rolls down off the inclined plate and out of the road. This cu shaped tail of the pellet catches the compressed gas that pushes it through the barrel of the gun and it is thin enough so that it is believed to stretch slightly and make a close fit with the barrel.

I have found that the plate 15 should preferably be made of so-called stainless steel because that kind of steel is hard and tough and the edge of the hole through which the pellet is formed stands out sharp and clean and resists wear very nicely. It is not necessary to use case hardened steel for this purpose, although it can I be used if desired.

abouts. The pellets have a diameter of .218 or thereabouts, such pellets being suitable for a .22 calibre rifled air gun and that such pellets can be depended upon for accurate shooting without leading up the gun. The head of the punch, the diameter of the holes in the block and the plate are made to give this result.

These pellets weigh about fifty to the troy ounce.

I have also found that traces of the rifling grooves are formed on the pellets as they travel through the gun, showing that these pellets spin on their long axis after they leave the gun. The pellets form the basis for a divisional application Serial No. 298,813, filed July 14, 1952.

I claim:

A punch press for use in forming air gun projectile pellets, comprising a punch having a cylindrical shank and a' nose portion of reduced diameter and slightly tapered terminating in a substantially semi-spherical head, said nose portion having a fillet at its juncture with the shank, a guideway across which said punch can operate, comprising spaced parallel upper and lower plates, said upper plate having a round hole therein perpendicular to said guideway through which said punch may be projected whereby a soft metal pellet can be formed and ejected, said hole having a diameter slightly greater than the head of said punch, and being of the same diameter as the shank and having a sharp circular shearing edge, the lower plate having a guide aperture of the diameter of said shank and being aligned with the first named hole, and of an axial length greater than the length of the punch nose portion, the spac ing between said plates, the diameter of said shank, and the length of said nose portion being approximately the same dimension, the head of the punch and the hole in the plate being adapted to form and shear from sheet soft metal stock of a thickness somewhat less than the spacing between the plates, a pellet with a rounded head and a cup-shaped hollow skirt cylindrical on the outside.

ADAM P. BERNARD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 10.710 North Apr. 6, 1886 10,681 McKenna Mar. 21, 1854 34,844 Naylor Apr. 1, 1862 43,102 Custer June 14, 1864 490,007 Williams et a1 June 17, 1893 790,905 Laing May 30, 1905 910,063 Holmgren Jan. 19, 1909 996,338 Hindinger June 27, 1911 1,200,593 Currie Oct. 10, 1916 1,458,417 Johnson June 13, 1923 2,414,863 Foster Jan. 28, 1947 I FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,208 Great Britain 1854 

